Review: Curse of the Golden Flower
DVD & Blu-ray: Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
Curse of the Golden Flower was China’s most expensive film to date (2006) at $45 million. And you can tell. To say its opulent is an understatement.
On first getting this for review I have to admit I didn’t want to watch it, as I thought it was going to be yet another in a long line of ‘flying through the air’ with billowing sleeves chopsocky Asian films. I was wrong. There is a little bit of fighting but this is nothing short of a re-jig of King Lear of sorts. It doesn’t follow the narrative of Lear exactly but has so many elements of it, only in reverse.
I can only describe it as a very watchable and enjoyable sumptuous looking tale of over the top royalty, including incest, murder, and poisonings. Yun-Fat Chow is evil and stops short of twirling his moustache, while Li Gong is the ephemeral icy, truly beautiful, wronged heroine.
The real star of the film is the set design and costumes, which are so incredible it’s worth watching this film for those alone. The maidens have …17th century looking corseted pieces on that make some scenes turn into a sea of breasts, while the pillars in the palace genuinely look like lickable lollypops.
It’s all very COLOURFUL, and who can blame them after the last 200 years?
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Secrets Within Documentary
- Los Angeles Premiere
- The Emperor Featurette
- The Empress Featurette
- Photo Gallery
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Fabulous Films.
